Construction begins for new BART parking garage in East Bay

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Elected officials break ground on the new parking garage that will be next to the Dublin-Pleasanton BART station. From left to right, Pleasanton Mayor Jerry Thorne, State Senator Steve Glazer, Alameda County Supervisor Scott Haggerty, State Assemblywoman Catharine Baker, and Dublin Mayor David Haubert.

DUBLIN — Construction has officially begun on a new parking garage by the Dublin-Pleasanton BART station.

Despite the garage being built to assist commuters, BART is not involved in the project, which is instead being being constructed thanks to an Assemblywoman’s push.

Assemblywoman Catharine Baker, R-San Ramon, and Alameda County Supervisor Scott Haggerty were among several officials on Tuesday afternoon who picked up their shovels to ceremoniously begin the construction of the 700-space parking garage.

Of the expected $30 million construction cost, $20 million is being covered by a state grant announced earlier this year by Baker and Haggerty.

The existing BART garage next door has 2,927 spaces, all of which are usually filled before 8 a.m. Baker said there is a 3,000-person waiting list for parking permits.

“Tri-Valley commuters have been frustrated by a lack of parking at the Dublin/Pleasanton BART station for more than a decade,” said Baker in a statement. “This is what happens when leaders work together to deliver real benefits to their communities.”

BART did not want the new garage, claiming a lack of funds, despite promising a 655-space parking garage back in 2002, when Dublin’s City Council approved a massive mixed-use development next to the station.

“A new parking structure in Dublin at the Dublin/Pleasanton BART station is long overdue,” Haggerty said in a statement.

Baker secured the $20 million from the governor’s office in 2017 to help pay for the expanded parking, in an “informal” verbal agreement that she would vote for Gov. Jerry Brown’s then cap-and-trade bill. BART staff had estimated that a new parking garage of this size would cost $37 million, and the board balked at the price tag. Directors then sent their staff back to the drawing board for a cheaper option.

Staff came back with a revised $17.2 million plan. But even then, BART refused to move forward, Baker said.

So, Baker and Haggerty took matters into their own hands, and developed a plan that would not need BART involved at all.

The grant money was instead awarded to the Livermore Amador Valley Transit Authority, and the garage itself will be on county-owned land, and therefore doesn’t require BART approval.

The remaining $10 million in construction costs is expected to be secured from the county. The garage also will be a convertible structure, meaning it can be used for housing or office space if the parking is no longer needed in the future.